The best CSI episode aired 19 years ago and was written and directed by a Hollywood legend

While CSI Has a lot of classic episodes, the show’s best outing aired in 2005 and came from a notable guest director, Quentin Tarantino. The CSI The franchise has had a lot of gruesome stories, but one stands out as a particularly impressive tour de force. The two-part season 5 finale, “Grave Danger,” is probably the most tense storyline in the show’s long history. While some of CSIThe best episodes are great thanks to their memorably nasty deaths, this two-parter is notable for featuring less completely than the viewers might expect from the series. However, that doesn’t make it any less disturbing.

Admittedly, the first episode of “Grave Danger” ends with a character blowing himself up. That said, this is not a moment that was made up CSI Viewers leave the show. Considering how visceral the close-up dissection of human bodies often gets, the darkly humorous slashed thumbs and piles of intestines found in “Grave Danger” are far from the show’s most shocking moments. Since CSI Mostly famous for pushing the boundaries of network television’s tolerance for gore and violence, it’s a little surprising that “Grave Danger” isn’t bloodier. However, his guest director ensures that the episode is unforgettably intense.

Why “Grave Danger” is arguably the best CSI episode ever

Quentin Tarantino’s CSI episode subverts the show’s familiar formula

“Grave Danger” was directed by Hollywood icon Quentin TarantinoAnd it shows. A handful of the director’s trademark motifs appear throughout the episode, as evidenced by its playful pop culture references. This is the only episode of the series where members of the eponymous team can be seen playing a Dukes of Hazzard Board game while on break. What really betrays the director “Grave Danger,” however, is the ingenious plot of the two-parter. Tarantino CSI Episode sees series hero Nick Stokes drugged by a mysterious attacker with a chloroform rag, only to wake up trapped in a plexiglass coffin.

As if that wasn’t terrifying enough, the CSI The team soon received a ransom demand and a link that allowed them to watch Nick’s ordeal via live stream. Tarantino CSI Episodes follow the team’s attempts to save Nick, subverting the show’s usual formula in the process. Typically, an average episode of CSI Features the team working together to solve a murder. Here, one of the team’s own members is the victim. Usually the victim is dead before the episode begins, and the villain is eventually caught or killed. Here, the victim lives to tell the tale and the fate of the villain is more complicated.

Quentin Tarantino writing and directing “Grave Danger” made it an instant classic

The iconic director’s style elevated the episode

Although Nick’s kidnapper faces off against Gil Grissom, he takes his own life before the team can discover the location of Nick’s trap. This is followed by the usual formula of a CSI episode, because the team is left with no leads. They must rely on sheer ingenuity, luck and investigative skills to save Nick’s life, and this is where Tarantino’s unique skill comes into play. Tarantino’s movies are full of set pieces that masterfully balance horror, humor and suspense, keeping viewers on the edge of their seats only to surprise them at the last second.

While many episodes of CSI And other crime procedurals rely on the same tiresome traps every week, “Grave Danger” plays with the format of the series to provide a chilling endurance test. Nick’s survival is not at all certain despite his pivotal role in the series, and Tarantino constantly ratchets up the tension in his predicament. Eventually, the character even shoots out the lights in his coffin to conserve electricity. Right up until its closing moments, “Grave Danger” is a showcase of Tarantino’s ability to wrong-foot audiences.

The best CSI episodes are the ones that broke the show’s formula

CSI’s familiar setup made experiments like “Grave Danger” effective

The CSI team seems to find the coffin, but it turns out to be a test model. The crew finally honors Nick’s trap, but it is rigged to explode once the door is opened. “Grave Danger” never lets up until its closing scenes and, as a result, Tarantino’s episode proves that CSIThe best outings play with his formula. While CSI’S popularity changed television norms in the early years of the show, its formula quickly became familiar to longtime viewers. As such, episodes like “Grave Danger” were a welcome break from the norm that proved the show still had ingenuity to spare.

Warrick’s death in season 8, episode 9, “Cockroaches,” was a real shocker that left viewers unsure if one of the main cast was truly safe. Season 7, episode 3, “Tow Tags,” gave the show’s murder victims a literal voice for the first time through a surprisingly poignant trip to the morgue. Writers with the hit sitcom Two and a half people To deliver a hilariously meta self-parody. The offerings, vi Quentin Tarantinos episodes, proved CSIThe formula allowed for a lot of innovation, play and experimentation.